January 6, 2009
- Pasco, Washington
Wind & Rain Hurting Cherry Crop
By Molly Kelleher
ELTOPIA - Any cherry farmer will tell you it's a gamble and this year the deck is stacked in mother nature's favor.
One after another, first a frost, then rain, now wind has put the cherry crop in danger. It's another tough year for cherry farmer Kent McMullen. More than half of his crop is scrapped. Sixteen acres of trees that won't even have enough fruit to pick so he's keeping a close eye on what he's got left. On Tuesday, McMullen is taking us out to the orchards, to do a once over to figure out his plan of attack: gas up the helicopter or wait it out. McMullen decides not to fly today, but his neighbors go up. Around the Mid-Columbia the skies were dotted with helicopters. Farmers pay these guys to get the rain off. A little wind is good, but big gusts like we got this week aren't. "This is wind damage for example, the 30 mph winds shook the trees for hours and hours that's hard on the cherries," said McMullen. Just two years ago, McMullen was in the same tough spot. When we went out to check his crop in '06 it was a pretty sad sight, rain ruined his fields then, too. This year McMullen says there's cherries to sell, but they'll barely break even. You're going to see the fruit hit the store a little later in the year. The crop is ten days later than usual and prices will be a little higher too. |
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